Valerie
by AndAllThatMishigas
Summary: Jean and Lucien welcome their first child.


Author's Note: This story fits into my Blake Adventures series. Takes place between Rescue Me and It Takes A Village.

 **Valerie**

They had discussed the birth at great length. Lucien wanted Jean to be comfortable but he was concerned about her safety. Giving birth at her age carried significant risks. And if any of them cropped up, he wanted to be at a hospital where she and the baby could be properly taken care of.

Jean had never given birth in a hospital before. Christopher and Jack were both born at home. But that was because they'd lived on a farm, far away from town. It wouldn't have been feasible or at all affordable to go to a hospital.

But this was different. She was much older now and living in town, and her husband was a doctor. As nervous as it made her, she knew being in a hospital would be safer. Besides, if she were to give birth at home, it would have to be in Lucien's surgery, and that wasn't what she wanted. She wanted Lucien to be her husband and a father for the birth of their child, not worrying about being a doctor.

Lucien was surprised when she agreed that they should go to the hospital. Neither of them voiced it, but they both knew that the issue of safety was the highest concern. And, god forbid, if anything went wrong, Lucien would need the help of nurses and other doctors.

Jean woke up to a backache that morning. A backache she hadn't felt in a long, long time. It was unmistakable. She knew it was almost time.

"I'm going to stop by the station for a bit. Frank needs my signoff on some forms," Lucien told her at breakfast.

"Do you think that could wait?" she asked apprehensively.

"What do you need, dear?" Lucien immediately stood up and went to her attentively. It was rare for Jean to make a request like that.

"I don't want you to leave the house today, if at all possible. I think I'll be going into labor soon. And I…I don't want to be by myself." The fear in her voice spoke louder than her words.

He immediately had her sit down in a chair at the kitchen table. "Tell me what's happening," he requested.

"Nothing, yet. But my back hurts. Quite a lot."

He nodded. "Early contractions. But your water hasn't broken yet?"

"No, not yet."

"As soon as it does, I'm taking you straight to the hospital." Lucien felt the nerves creep in. He knew how lucky they'd been that Jean had not experienced any trouble with the pregnancy. But childbirth was not a kind process, and his worries were all renewed.

Jean groaned in pain. "I can't sit, it's too uncomfortable." With great effort, she pushed her enormously pregnant body out of the chair to a standing position. As soon as she did, gravity took over. Wetness dripped down her leg. "Oh dear."

"What is it?"

"Lucien, my water just broke."

He immediately went into a crisis mindset. "Right. I'm going to leave a note for Charlie and Mattie, and then we're getting right in the car."

She nodded weakly. She knew what was coming. Any minute now, the real contractions would begin. The pain couldn't possibly be as bad as she remembered, but it had been such a long time, and Jean was frightened.

Lucien drove the car as fast as it would go. He ignored Jean's scolding. All he could hear was the strain in her voice between her stifled groans. She was in immense pain and trying not to show it. He almost wished she would scream or cry out. Her quiet suffering was more than he could bear.

For eleven hours, Jean was in labor. For eleven hours, she had her face contorted in agony. For eleven hours, she emitted soft whimpers and groans, unable to allow herself, even now, to fully express the pain she was in.

For eleven hours, Lucien sat by her side. For eleven hours, he barely let go of her of her hand. For eleven hours, he felt sick with worry over her wellbeing and with distress over her discomfort.

If the other doctors or nurses found it odd for a husband to be with his wife during childbirth, they didn't give any indication. No one told Lucien to go to the waiting room with the other expectant fathers. No one suggested that perhaps Jean might like to be alone to rest. No one batted an eye when the husband asked the wife to time her contractions before checking her dilation.

Jean had never been a patient in a hospital before, but she was in too much pain to think anything of it. She had Lucien by her side, which was all she needed. He did recommend giving her some anesthesia for the pain, but she refused. She'd never had anything for her other births, and she wanted to be completely awake and present for the birth of Baby Blake, as they'd taken to calling their unborn child.

And as the day progressed, she was more and more grateful that she had insisted Lucien be her doctor through her pregnancy. They had developed an easy shorthand over the months and an unwavering trust between them. Jean was sure it would be unbearable for a strange doctor to be poking and prodding her in that strange hospital bed. With Lucien checking her periodically, she could relax just slightly, knowing she was in his capable hands.

"Alright, love, it's time," Lucien finally proclaimed. "I'm going to be here to hold your hand, and the midwife is going to deliver the baby. I'll be right here if there's any trouble."

Jean nodded, sweat beading on her brown. That's what they had agreed upon. She was too exhausted already to contemplate a change in plans at this stage.

"Are you ready, Mrs. Blake? It's time to push." The midwife had perched herself between Jean's knees, ready to ease Baby Blake into the world.

Jean squeezed Lucien's hand so hard he thought it might break. She whimpered with the effort. Tears were escaping down her cheeks.

"That's it, Jean. Keep breathing. Everything's fine," Lucien soothed, caressing the back of her hand with his thumb in the manner he knew always comforted her.

"I see the baby's head!" the midwife announced. "Just one more push, Mrs. Blake."

Jean gave one single shout at the last effort. Her voice was drowned out by the wailing cry of a baby. Jean immediately gasped at the sound and began to laugh as the tears flowed down her face.

"You have a healthy baby girl," the midwife told them, wrapping the infant in a blanket to hand to the new parents.

Jean held her daughter in her arms, her heart bursting with love. "Hello, sweet girl. We've been waiting for you!" she said, her voice cracking with emotion. Jean looked over to Lucien for the first time and was slightly shocked with what she saw. "Lucien, are you crying?"

He didn't even bother to wipe the tears from his eyes. "Look at her! She's the most beautiful little thing. She's so pink!" he said, his tone giddy with joy.

Jean had to chuckle. "You act as though you've never seen a baby before!"

"But this is _our_ baby, Jean. We are mother and father to a daughter. A perfect daughter."

"I think it's time she met her father," Jean said, handing the baby to Lucien.

He held her with the instinct of experience. It had been a very long time since he had held a baby of his own. It was different with Li, though. Mei Lin had given birth in private, and he had been brought to see the baby later. Here with Jean, he'd gotten to witness their baby's first moments and first cries.

Speaking of which, the baby was still crying and wailing away. It made Lucien smile. Strong lungs. The tears flowed anew.

Jean watched father and daughter with overwhelming affection flowing through her. They looked so natural and beautiful together.

"Here, budge over," Lucien instructed, coming to sit beside Jean in the hospital bed. He held the baby between them and put his arm around her. She leaned into his embrace, gazing at their daughter, and he reverently kissed her hair. "Well done, Jean," he murmured.

She smiled. "She looks like her name, I think, speaking over the crying.

"I quite agree. Welcome to the world, Valerie Genevieve. Our own little Baby Blake."

The midwife returned from cleaning up the afterbirth. "I have to take the baby for measurements and tests, just to make sure everything is as it should be. I'll bring her back for her first feeding, if you'd like to do it yourself. A nurse will be by to help you and to bring the forms for the birth certificate.

"Yes, I'd like to feed her myself, thank you," Jean insisted. She reluctantly handed Valerie off.

When they were alone, Lucien asked, "You're going to breastfeed?"

"Yes, of course. What else would I do?" The question genuinely confused her.

"I don't know. We hadn't discussed it."

"There's nothing to discuss. All my children came from my body, and I'll feed them that way."

Her definitive tone effectively closed the conversation. Lucien knew that breastfeeding was somewhat out of fashion. Most new mothers nowadays preferred formula as soon as they could manage it. But Jean was very sure of her choice, and he had no intention of stopping her.

Lucien filled out all the paperwork for Valerie Genevieve Blake. Writing her name for the first time, he thought of his mother, for whom his daughter was named. She would be proud, he thought, of how he had ended up. She would have adored Jean, he knew. And he wished both his parents could meet Valerie. His father had never met Li, not that he had much approved of his son marrying a Chinese woman in Singapore, but Lucien knew that Thomas Blake would have made a wonderful grandfather. He and Jean would have to tell their daughter stories about him.

Jean very happily disrobed to feed the baby when she was returned. Lucien watched in awe. He knew Jean had been a mother before, of course, but the expert way she instinctively knew exactly what to do was incredible. Valerie latched right away with no trouble and happily ate her first meal, a rather late supper.

"She's a night owl like her father, I can just tell," Jean said with a sigh. She had forgotten what a comforting thing it was to breastfeed a baby.

Lucien came closer to watch the baby. "She's so small and delicate." As he gazed at Valerie, he was rewarded by her eyes blinking open for the first time. "My god, she has blue eyes!"

"Most babies do, don't they?" Jean asked, similarly entranced by Valerie's eyes.

"Yes, Caucasian babies. The melanin hasn't developed yet. They usually darken over the first few months."

Jean smiled. "I don't think hers will."

"Why not?"

"Because right now they're the exact same color blue as yours."

Lucien gently stroked her soft baby hair with his finger. He paused, leaning over to give Jean a soft kiss. "I cannot believe she's finally here. That we have a child."

"Her debut certainly took long enough. Eleven hours, good lord!"

"Yes, are you alright?" he asked with concern, suddenly remembering what he'd watched her go through all day.

"I'm rather tired. But I'll sleep when she does."

Lucien nodded. "I'll be right here."

Jean looked at him with a small smile, a smile that always indicated more than she said. "I know you will."

Valerie Blake finished her first dinner and yawned in her mother's arms. And for the first time, the Blake family all settled down for the night.


End file.
